Nura: Rise of the Mutant Clan
by lDragonElf
Summary: With news of the newly revealed mutants spreading across the globe Rikuo decides to investigate their abilities and power levels. Can Japanese yokai navigate the life of human American teenagers? This takes place afters the end of Nurarihyon no Mago and during season 3 of X-men: Evolution.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **I don't own either of these.

* * *

**Chapter 1: Intriguing News  
**

"Oi Nura-kun, Ienega-san, did you see the footage of the American mutants?"

Nura Rikuo and Ienega Kana looked up from the textbook they had been skimming. "The American what?"

"Mutants," Kiyotsugu's voice held almost as much excitement as when he talked about yokai. "They're humans with supernatural powers! Some of them were caught on film in America fighting a giant robot and the whole country went into an uproar, and now other countries are starting to do the same."

Rikuo closed the book and Kana turned toward their dark-haired friend. "Are you sure it isn't some hoax?" she asked.

"No no, it's the real thing! Some of Shima-kun's soccer friends who live in America showed him the footage and he showed me. Look here it is." He turned his laptop toward them.

On the screen several figures in brightly colored skin-tight outfits were fighting a giant red-and-black robot. Although the images were distant it appeared that some of them were flying, and shooting energy beams or lighting bolts.

After the footage had ended Kana glanced at Rikuo, "Are you sure they aren't some sort of yokai?" she asked.

Rikuo shook his head slowly, "I'm not sure," he said. "They could be, but it doesn't make sense for a group of yokai to get involved in a fight in broad daylight."

"No they're human." Kiyotsugu insisted, "They have something called an X-gene that gives them special powers. Apparently any human can have it, some people are saying it's the next step in evolution. The group that was fighting in the footage call themselves the X-men."

The bell rang, signaling the beginning of class and the three students hurriedly turned to face the front.

As the day wore on Rikuo only half listened to the lessons, his thoughts were on the mutants. Their powers were certainly impressive, but they were also unknown. He would need to talk to the clan heads about this.

* * *

After school Rikuo hurried back to the main house. Once there he asked one of the smaller yokai where Gyuuki was. After being pointed it the right direction he walked around the outside porch until he reached the back garden. There he spotted the older yokai sitting with a thoughtful look on his face.

"Excuse me, Gyuuki-sama." Rikuo said respectfully.

Gyuuki turned toward him, "Yes Rikuo?"

"I learned some interesting news today and wanted your advise on how to deal with it." He replied.

Gyuuki nodded, "Very well, what news did you hear?"

Rikuo sat down next to the old adviser and told him about the video footage Kiyotsugu had shown them.

"I'd like to travel to America and observe their powers myself to determine whether or not mutants could become a potential threat to the clan." he stated after he'd explained the facts.

Gyuuki was silent for a while as he pondered the information. Rikuo watched the wind blow ripples in the pond as he waited for his response.

Finally Gyuuki spoke, "The idea that random humans could gain abilities rivaling those of yokai is troubling. But were you planning to travel to America alone? And how would you get close enough to these "mutants" to be able to study them?"

"I wouldn't go alone, although I haven't thought about who I'd bring, and I was thinking of enrolling the high school that many of the mutants attend. There is a transfer program that I could go through and the school year hasn't started yet in America. My main concern with going is who would maintain the clan while I'm gone."

Gyuuki nodded slowly, "I suppose you've already thought of a possible candidate." he stated.

"Yes, I was hoping you would fill in for me Gyuuki."

The older demon looked surprised at this so Rikuo hurriedly continued, "You've already proven many times in the past that you're willing to go to any length the protect the clan, even if it would cost you your life. You have experience leading and the respect of the other heads. I know you've retired, but I can't think of anyone else who would be suited."

"What about your grandfather?"

"He told me a few weeks ago, 'I have no intention of ever again leading the clan so you'd better not die or anything or we'll be in big trouble!'" Rikuo said with a grin.

"I see."

Silence fell again and Rikuo waited nervously this time for the response to his request.

"I suppose I could fill in for you for a short while," Gyuuki finally said. "However I have a request in return."

It was Rikuo's turn to look surprised, "What is it?" he asked.

Gyuuki almost smiled as he said, "Take Gozumaru and Mezumaru with you."

* * *

That evening the main house was bustling in preparation of the head meeting. The heads were arriving with their entourages, food was being prepared, and all around small yokai were running about with errands and messages.

Shortly after nightfall the heads had all gathered and eaten and the meeting began. There was some discussion of goings on in the different districts, interaction with humans, foreign yokai and such; but soon the talk died down and Rikuo decided it was time to reveal what he had learned that day.

"I learned of an interesting development today." he began, "Apparently some few humans have been gaining "supernatural" abilities. The largest known group is in america and has most human governments buzzing about how to deal with them."

"Why should we care about strange humans that far away?" It was Hitotsume, being contradictory as per usual.

"Based on the research I did, almost any human has a possibility of becoming a "mutant" as they're calling themselves. We currently don't know how their powers work, and I would rather figure that out now than wait till one of them decides they don't like yokai and challenges us."

Hitotsume subsided as murmurs filled the room. Rikuo waited until they quieted before continuing. "I'm going to go to the city where the group of mutants live and determine their abilities and power levels." he stated calmly.

There was an uproar at the announcement as the heads reacted to this news. Shouted protests and questions filled the room. Rikuo sat back, waiting for them to calm down. He noticed that Kubinashi, and Tsurara both remained silent, unsurprising since he had spoken to them before the meeting began.

Finally Aotabo shouted over the din for everyone to shut up and quiet returned.

"Thank you Ao." Rikuo said, slightly amused. "While I am gone, Gyuuki has agreed to fill in for me as leader of the clan." There were surprised murmurs at this, but no one raised their voice. "I will be keeping in regular contact with what I learn about these mutants and whether they're potential allies or threats."

"But Rikuo," said Kurotabo carefully, "Is traveling to another country alone really a wise decision?"

"Probably, not," Rikuo admitted, "Which is why I'm not going alone. Kubinashi, Kejoro, Tsurara, Kappa, Gozumaru, and Mezumaru have all agreed to accompany me. The decision is final." He added seeing that Hitotsume preparing to speak.

"Was there anything else that needed to be discussed tonight?" He asked pointedly. There were several muttered denials and he nodded. "In that case the meeting is adjourned."

* * *

Afterward Aotabo, Kurotabo, Zen, and Shoei approached Rikuo as he sat outside in the sakura tree. Rikuo glanced at their expressions then slipped down to face them.

"I know what your going to say, and I'm not taking any of you with me because you're needed here and you wouldn't work with the cover story."

"So what is your cover story?" Zen asked, disgruntled.

"A group of transfer students with two chaperones. None of you would be able to pass as high school students, and and you're needed hear to head your districts."

"Kubinashi and Tsurara both have their own districts as well." Shoei protested.

"Yes but Tsurara's district has managed without a head before and they can do so again, and Kubinashi's district is very low-maintenance, they'll be fine without him." He put up a hand to stall any further arguments, "We need a couple who can pose as chaperones, and Kubinashi and Kejoro fit that role very well."

"When Kubinashi keeps his head in the right place." Aotabo muttered.

Rikuo smirked, "True."

He looked at his four close friends, "If I thought it would work I'd bring all of you, but the fact is it wouldn't. I'm sorry."

They nodded glumly.

"Why Gozu and Mezu?" Kurotabo asked suddenly.

Rikuo sighed, "Gyuuki asked me to bring them, he said it would be good training for them to practice posing as humans, and that Gozumaru needs to learn to get along with others better and this is the perfect opportunity for that."

Zen snorted, "I almost pity you, almost."

Kurotabo nodded, "We understand why you've decided this, even if we wish we could accompany you."

A sudden shout caused them all to spin around. In the distance they could hear Gozumaru and Mezumaru's voices overlapping in what sounded like protests.

"Oh yes," said Zen, "You lot are in for an interesting time."

* * *

**Author's Note: **Updated chapter, YAY! Sorry if they seem a little OC.I'm placing Rikuo at around fifteen in this fic, so he'll be a sophomore.

Yes Gyuuki wants Gozu and Mezu to go to America to play with the mutant kids. It'll be fun! Please Review any comments, questions or remarks.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Across the Sea**

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**Disclaimer: See first chapter.**

* * *

There had been a lot of preparations to see to before they could leave for America. School records had to be created for Kappa, Gozu, and Mezu; and then the records for all the younger demons had to be transferred to the Bayville High School computer system under exchange students. Living arrangements had to be made and cover stories hammered out and put into place, but finally they were ready to embark.  
Almost.

"Mezumaru no human would go around wearing a skull on their head, you have to get used to going without it." Rikuo said, trying to keep the annoyance from his voice.

He was turned in his seat facing the blue-haired yokai who was holding the horse skull to his head protectively.

"But he always wears it, and no one else has to change their appearance." Gozu said, amused from his seat to the right.

"Everyone except me is at least changing how they dress, and at most using illusions to hide their non-human characteristics." Rikuo stated with a glare in the yokai's direction.

Gozumaru smirked at him. "Like what?"

"Like Kappa's webbed hands." Kubinashi interjected, "We haven't even reached the airport, are you two really going to start causing trouble now?"

"Maybe," Gozumaru muttered sullenly.

Rikuo turned back toward Mezu, "You can still wear it when we patrol at night, it's just when we're under cover as humans." He cajoled.

"Yeah at least he's not making you pretend to be a giiirl." Gozumaru put in with a sing-song tone.

Mezumaru sighed, "Alright." he pulled the skull off and tucked it into his carry-on bag.

* * *

The flight went smoothly enough, aside from a small boredom enhanced peanut fight, and after a long taxi ride from the airport they finally reached their apartment in the Bayville area. It was a few hours before nightfall, so they decided to rest a bit before going to scope out the area.

Finally the sun set; in a swirl of mist Rikuo took on his night form and led the way to explore their new surroundings.

* * *

"That's where the mutants live." Rikuo stated quietly.

The gated mansion looked to still be under repairs, with a few backhoes and other machinery laying around the huge front lawn.  
Gozumaru jumped from the tree he and Mezumaru were in and landed in a crouch on top of the wall.

"Gozumaru," Kubinashi hissed, "they may have security cameras."

"The moon's covered they won't be able to get a clear picture." Gozu grumbled back, but he jumped down anyway.

They walked slowly next to a small stream, waiting for Kappa to resurface from his exploration of the waterways.

"The high school and town aren't anything special." Kubinashi noted, "and there haven't been any traces of yokai so it seems we'll be unchallenged here."

"Unless the reason there are no yokai is because of the mutants." Tsurara stated quietly.

Rikuo nodded, "That is a possibility, we'll have to be extra careful not to let our yokai forms be connected to our human covers."

A small splash from the stream alerted them to Kappa's arrival.

"Find anything interesting?" Rikuo asked.

Kappa nodded and beckoned for them to follow him.

* * *

"They're all mutants." Tsurara whispered.

"Yes but why are they in the sewers instead of living in that mansion with the other mutants?" Kejoro whispered back.

"Maybe they're rival groups?" Mezumaru suggested.

"It's possible I suppose." Kubinashi stated.

"We'll keep it in mind as we learn more about them." Rikuo said, "For now..."

He stopped as he sensed a movement in the camp. with a signal the yokai slipped back into shadows and he covered them with his fear, turning them invisible to all senses. The movement resolved into the figure of a tall, pale, bald mutant. He took a few more steps toward them then hesitated, a look of concentration on his face. Another mutant with short black hair and an eye patch exited one of the tents and came to stand beside the bald male.

"What is it Calypso?" she asked quietly, although not quiet enough for the words to be missed by the yokai.

"I sensed many presences nearby, but they're veiled now." The mutant named Calypso replied, sounding troubled.

"Veiled? How is that possible?" She demanded.

"I don't know..."

Rikuo decided they'd heard enough for the moment signaled the other yokai to follow and they crept quickly away from the area.

* * *

"So one mutant ability is to sense nearby presences." Kubinashi mused after they had returned from their patrol.

"Yes, It'll be interesting to find what other abilities they have." Rikuo said. He looked up, "The sun is rising."

The yokai watched as their leader changed back to his day form, then they went to prepare for a day of pretending to be human.

* * *

Charles Xavier wheeled his way toward the security room. The students had all left for school with some trepidation of how the other students would treat them this year. He had been preparing to use Cerebro to search for other young mutants who would now undoubtedly be facing hardship's since mutants were revealed to the world, when Hank had called him down here.

"Alright Hank what is it?" He asked.

"Look at this." The blue mutant replied, pulling up some security footage from the night before.

The camera was one that looked toward the wall that surrounded the grounds of the institute, a few trees were rustling in a slight wind, but nothing seemed to be out of place. Suddenly in a flash of movement as shadowy figure seemed to jump from one of the trees to the top of the wall. there wasn't enough light to make out any features on the figure; it crouched on top of the wall for a few moments before jumping down outside the wall and disappearing from view.

"What do you think?" Hank asked him once the clip had finished, "Could it be one of Magneto's brotherhood?"

"I'm not sure," the professor replied thoughtfully. "Whoever it was didn't actually enter the grounds this time, but if it is the brotherhood we should be on guard. I'll warn the students when they get back today, in the meantime I'll ask Logan to look around the area and see if he can pick up a scent."

* * *

**Author's Note: **Yay, finally updating.

Hopefully the characters aren't too OOC. Next chapter is school! Please review and let me know what you think.

**Edit: My hard drive has locked so I won't be able to update until I can get my documents retrieved or I rewrite the whole chapter. Sorry for the long wait, hopefully it will only be a few more weeks.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: **see first chapter

_"Japanese"_

"english"

* * *

The school grounds looked different when they were full of adolescent humans, Kubinashi reflected. He watched as Rikuo, Tsurara, Kappa, Gozumaru, and Mezumaru made their way through the crowd toward the school entrance.

They looked human in their disguises, although they still stood slightly out from the crowd, but they didn't seem to be drawing any undue attention from the surrounding humans. Not that that was surprising, Tsurara and Rikuo had spent years masquerading as human students, and the Gyuki clan was well known for their talents of deception, even Kappa looked like a human teen, so long as the illusion hiding his webbed hands remained intact. The human teenagers were too busy greeting friends and gossiping about the summer to take much notice of the new students yet, but as the group of Yokai walked a path seemed to open through the crowd for them. Kubinashi grinned, it seemed the humans could subconsciously sense the Yokai's fear, even as they suppressed it, and were making way for them. He nodded to himself, so long as they didn't do anything particularly non-human the deception would work.

Once the younger Yokai were out of sight Kubinashi turned the car out of the parking lot and drove toward the town center where he had agreed to meet Kejoro. They had some reconnaissance to do.

* * *

Rikuo led the way through the crowd to the main entrance of the high school building. Kappa and Tsurara walked on either side and slightly behind him, and the two Gyukki-clan Yokai lagged a few steps behind.

Gozu sulked as he followed the third heir through the crowd of humans, he held onto Mezu's arm as he walked, the younger Gyukki Yokai was completely failing to conceal his interest in the surroundings and had almost run into three separate humans as he looked around.

As they reached the school entrance the Yokai heard a murmur run through the the crowd.

They turned and saw a group of students making their way along nearly the same path the Yokai had just taken, but where they had been ignored for the most part, this group of students had caught the attention of almost the whole crowd of students.

Rikuo recognized some of the group, they were wearing normal clothes instead of the weird spandex costumes from the video footage, but the students at the front of the group were definitely the Bayville mutants from the video.

Behind them were several younger-looking teens that he didn't recognize, but from the way the crowd was acting Rikuo decided it was a safe bet to assume they were mutants as well.

The muttering of the crowd began to to get louder as the mutants made their way toward the building, cries of 'go home', 'stay away freaks', and other insults and slurs were shouted at the teens.

The Yokai stood at the top of the steps watching with interest as the mutants approached. The mutants didn't seem to notice the group of foreign exchange students until they were almost level with them. The boy in the lead was tall, with brown hair and red-tinted sunglasses, as they reached the top of the stairway and drew level with the Yokai group, his gaze locked defensively onto Rikuo. The Nura-clan leader met his gaze evenly, the mutant hesitated, seeming confused at his lack of response. The rest of the mutants hesitated as they saw their leader stop, and for a moment the two groups were still. The humans behind them hushed in confusion as they observed the confrontation, and the tension outside the school thickened.

Rikuo sensed rather than saw the mutants tensing, as if preparing for an attack. Deciding that they didn't want to make any more of a scene than necessary he smiled and nodded to the mutants, then led his group through to doors toward the school office to collect their class schedules, leaving the mutants and humans behind them, slightly unsure of what had just happened.

* * *

Kurt Wagner made his way through the halls toward the lunchroom. Why did his class have to be in the farthest room in the building? It wouldn't be so bad if he could just teleport from class to class, but the school board had said no powers on school grounds and the last thing he wanted do was cause trouble for the Professor.

He dodged around a few girls who were standing and talking next to the lockers and finally could smell food ahead. The lunch line was long, and the food looked inedible as ever, but he was hungry so he hurried toward the table near the back of the room where he could see the other x-men waiting.

He sat down next to them with a sigh and slumped in his seat.

"Any trouble with other students?" Scott asked him.

"No, not yet. Vhat about you guys?"

"Not exactly trouble..." Kitty said, "you remember that group of students we didn't recognize this morning? Well apparently they're foreign exchange students from Japan, the blue-haired girl is in my home economics class, her name's Tsurara, and she like doesn't care at all that I'm a mutant. She even volunteered to partner with me on our cooking project."

"Maybe the Japanese don't mind mutants?" Jean suggested.

Scott frowned, "But that doesn't explain why they acted so strange this morning. Has anyone else had any classes with them so far?"

The rest of the x-men shook their heads except for Kurt who nodded, "Zhe one you were glaring at this morning is in my study hall, second period. His name in Rikuo and he didn't seem to care one way or the other about mutants."

"Well if any of you have any more classes with them, try to find out more about them. Something about that group makes me feel uneasy."

Before any of the others could respond, a clatter and an angry shout came from the front of the room by the lunch line.

They turned toward the noise, standing to get a better view, and saw a furious Duncan Mattews standing over Sam, Ray, and Amara. At their feet lay a lunch tray, and down the front of Duncan's jacket was a smear of food.

"Look at this you freak." Duncan yelled at Sam, "Learn to watch where you're going!"

"Sorry," Sam muttered.

"You're sorry? What are you going to do about it?"

"Oye, you ran into him Duncan." It was Spyke, who had been standing in the lunch line but was now standing on the inside edge of the small crowd that had gathered. "If anyone should be apologizing it's you."

Duncan turned toward him angrily, then with a cry of surprise fell backward into two of his friends as his foot hit a skidding lunch tray and flew out from under him.

A snicker broke through the silence that followed. Duncan scrambled back to his feet and turned with the rest of the gathered students toward the sound.

Two of the foreign exchange students were standing slightly to one side watching the proceedings with poorly concealed amusement. The one who had snickered had chin-legth brown hair that was pulled up in the back in a strange way, and the other had long blueish-black hair held up in two high ponytails.

Duncan's face was turning red with anger, "What are you laughing at?"

The brown-haired one cocked his head to the side, "Watching idiots is always amusing." He replied snidely.

"Who are you calling an idiot?"

"Who do you think _gaijin_."

Duncan stepped forward angrily and the brown-haired boy grinned and took a fighting stance. The crowd of students began to crowd in closer for a better look at the oncoming fight.

Suddenly a voice cut through the clamor. "_Dame_' Gozumaru."

It was the foreign exchange student, Rikuo. He stood slightly way from the crowd directing a level stare in the direction of the two boys. The blue-haired boy looked sheepish, but the brown-haired boy returned the glare for a moment. Then with a snort of contempt he turned pointedly away from the other Japanese student and brushed past Duncan to the lunch counter. The younger boy followed him.

Duncan glared after him for a moment before turning back to the younger mutants who were still standing to the side.

"You still haven't apologized freak!" He said, glaring down at Sam.

"He doesn't need to apologize, you bumped into him." Rikuo stated calmly, "and you're blocking the line. Why don't you just get another tray, there's still time before the bell rings."

"Why are you taking their side newbie?" Duncan demanded, "are you a mutant-lover?"

Rikuo met his eyes calmly and after a moment the older boy shifted uncomfortably. Rikuo smiled, "I'm not sure what you mean by 'mutant-lover', but I'd like to finish my lunch in peace so if you wouldn't mind leaving your fight till later?" With that he turned and walked back to the table where the other foreign exchange students were sitting.

Duncan watched him go, then turned and pushed his way through the the crowd to the lunch line. The crowd began to disperse, muttering, and the younger Xavier students made their way toward the table where the x-men were sitting.

"Okay, that was like totally weird!" Kitty stated as they arrived. "Did you see Duncan back down like that?"

"Yeah, it was. But why would that guy stand up for us like that? I thought he and Scott were almost fighting this morning." Bobby said as he sat down.

"His name's Rikuo, they," Scott said gesturing to the table the foreign exchange students were sitting at, "are all from Japan, and from what we've seen they don't seem to hate mutants. I don't know what this morning was about but we should definitely try to learn more about them."

The Xavier students nodded in agreement, then hurried to eat their lunch before the bell rang.

* * *

**Authors** **note**: sorry for the slow update, like I said before my hard drive died and I had to rewrite the whole chapter. I'm working on getting a new computer, but until I get one updates will take a while.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: **see first chapter

* * *

**Chapter 4**

* * *

The younger students scattered to their various activities as soon as they got home; but the Professor had asked the X-men to gather in one of the briefing rooms to report.  
They sat in chairs around a long metal table with Professor Xavier and Hank at the head.

"So, how was your first day back?" The Professor asked.

The students hesitated unsure of how to answer.

"Well Professor," Scott began after a few moments of silence, "the majority of the students didn't seem very happy to see us."

"That's an understatement" Spyke muttered angrily, "they all hate us!"

"Not all of them," Jean corrected him, "I think most of them are afraid and unsure of how to act around us."

"Well they sure weren't rushing to defend us!"

"Students," Xavier intervened before an argument could develop. "You knew you would meet some levels of hostility, but if you continue to act civilly towards those around you, those who are unsure will come to see that you are not that different from them."

"Actually," Kitty spoke up, "there were some students who did stand up for us. There's this group of foreign exchange students from Japan; and when Duncan was making trouble for Amara, Sam, and Ray, their leader like told him off. And the girl is in my home EC class and she's partnering with me for a project and she doesn't seem to care at all that I'm a mutant."

The professor and Hank both looked up in surprise.  
"Well that's very good news." Hank said

"Yes," said the professor thoughtfully, "Did any of the rest of you have any positive interactions with the Japanese students today?"

The other mutants shook their heads.

"I would suggest you seek them out and form friendships with them, if the other students see that they're not afraid of you it may encourage them to act kindly toward you."

"Now I'm sure you all have things to do," Hank said, "So we'll end the meeting here, but let us know if any other students start acting friendly."

The X-men filed out of the room and the door closed behind them.

* * *

Jean made her way toward the stairs, she had a big paper due in a week and wanted to get started as soon as possible. She had almost reached her room when she was intercepted by Kitty and Amara.

"Jean, there's a sale at the mall today and we really really want to get some new outfits, can you drive us please?" Kitty said in a rush.

The red-head groaned internally, "Guys I really need to get started on my paper, and don't you both have homework due soon as well?"

"Not for a few days," Amara replied, "Please Jean, we promise we won't bother you for the rest of the week if you take us."

Both younger girls looked pleadingly up at her and she sighed, "Alright, but try not to take too long."

They cheered and ran to get their purses. Jean grabbed hers from the desk and walked down to the garage to meet them.

* * *

After school had ended Rikuo called the yokai together to discuss what they had observed so far.

"Alright," He began, "we know that most of the humans in the area hate mutants; anyone find out anything else interesting?"

"Well they're not supposed to use their powers in school," Tsurara said, "so we probably won't be able to get a good idea of their abilities there. I'm partnered with one of the mutants, Kitty Pryde, in our home EC class though; I may be able to learn something from her."

"Good work Tsurara." He said.

"Kejoro and I spent some time in the downtown area," Kubinashi spoke up. "We saw a news story about something called the Sentinel Project. From what we could tell some political leaders have enlisted a colonel who is very hostile toward mutants to create these sentinel robots as a way to ensure the mutants don't 'step out of line'"

Rikuo frowned, "how large is this project?"

"It's hard to tell," Kejoro replied, "but it could become a problem later on if the idea becomes viewed as a valid solution to the 'mutant threat'."

"We'll have to keep an eye on their progress then. Any other news or observations?" Rikuo asked. When there wasn't any he nodded. "Alright, we have a few hours before sunset; Kappa I want you to finish familiarizing yourself with the waterways of the area. Everyone else, scout out the area a bit more, we didn't get to the northeast area of the city last night so try to look into those areas. Listen for any information on mutants or sentinels; and Gozu, Mezu;" The two Gyukki clan yokai looked up at him and he gave them a stern look, "try not to bring too much attention to yourselves."

Gozu glared at him than turned away with a snort. Rikuo told everyone to keep in contact via their cell phones and to try and meet back a half hour before sunset, then he dismissed the meeting and they headed outside. Gozumaru immediately stalked out of the building and toward the east part of town with Mezumaru following close behind. Kappa glanced at Rikuo then headed toward a nearby storm drain and, after checking that no humans were around, vanished inside it.

Kejoro turned to Tsurara, "There's a shopping center nearby that seems to be very popular for this area, we could go scout it  
out and buy a few things for tonight."

Tsurara nodded and the two female yokai headed toward the town center. Kubinashi and Rikuo locked the building behind them and headed toward the north part of town.

* * *

The mall was packed by the time Jean, Kitty, and Amara managed to find a parking space and get inside the building.

"Ooh, we'd better hurry or all the good stuff will be gone!" Amara said.

They made their way through the crowds to the stores that were having the sales Kitty and Amara had seen advertised. The store was packed with shoppers, The three girls glanced at each other, then dived in.

Several hours later the three girls were loaded down with bags and headed toward the parking garage.

"Kitty?"

The three mutant girls turned in surprise at the voice. Behind them stood the foreign exchange student Tsurara and a young woman with long brown hair pulled up in a ponytail; both held a few shopping bags and seemed glad to see the mutants.

"It is you!" Tsurara continued, stepping forward with a smile. "I thought it was, but I wasn't sure."

"Oh, hi Tsurara," Kitty replied, "are you here for the sale too? We just finished, and they had some really cool stuff!"

"No, Kejoro and I were just picking up a few things we need for dinner tonight." Tsurara said "Oh," She turned toward her companion, "Kejoro, this is Kitty Pryde, she's in my home EC class at school." She turned back to the mutants, "Kejoro is one of our chaperones for the foreign exchange program we're in." She explained.

"Well I'm glad to meet you both." Jean said, stepping forward to shake hands with Kejoro. "I'm Jean Grey, and this is Amara, the three of us attend Xavier's Institute for Gifted Youngsters."

"So you're both from Japan?" Amara asked curiously.

"Yes, my husband Kubinashi and I volunteered to chaperone the students from our school that wanted to study abroad." Kejoro explained.

"Wow, that's really cool." Amara said.

"Yes, it's been an exciting journey, but I'm curious what is it like at the institute?" Kejoro asked.

"Well, it's pretty fun, if a bit noisy sometimes. And it's nice to have a safe place to practice our powers." Amara said.

"Oh right, you three are.. I believe the word is Mutants?" Tsurara said.

The three girls tensed slightly before Jean answered evenly, "Yes we're mutants, we're training to learn how to control our abilities."

"Good, one should always hone their talents." Kejoro replied.

The three mutants stood shocked at the unexpected response, and an awkward silence descended between the two groups.

"Oh Tsurara," Kitty said suddenly, "We have that cooking assignment we have to do with our partners due on Monday; do you think maybe you could come over to the institute this weekend to work on it?"

"I think I could do that, where is it?"

"Here," Kitty rearranged a few of her bags and pulled a pen and notebook out of her purse, she scribbled down the address and phone number of the institute, then handed it to the blue-haired girl. "That's the address and phone number, we can decide on a time on Friday."

Tsurara smiled and took the paper, then with a final wave the three mutants walked out to their car and headed home.

* * *

**Author's note: **Ugh, writing this chapter was like dragging an angry cow through knee-deep mud! But I think my creativity is coming back so the next chapter should come a lot faster.

Reviews help me stay motivated, so please review!


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: Don't own either one.**

* * *

**Chapter 5**

* * *

Kappa swam through the water pipe toward an opening that should let out into the city park. It had taken a few days, but he had finally finished mapping out the city's waterways. He peaked above the water, and sure enough, he was in a stream that wove through the park. He glanced at the red and pink-streaked sky and estimated he had about an hour and a half till nightfall. He swam into the shadow cast by a bridge and crept onto shore underneath it, he was supposed to meet Kubinashi and Rikuo nearby soon.  
The water yokai moved to stand, then froze as he heard an unfamiliar sound approaching. After quickly reapplying his illusion he turned to see what was causing the strange slapping sound. A small greenish figure was hopping toward the bridge, as it came closer, Kappa recognized him as the brotherhood mutant Toad.  
Kappa moved quietly backwards hoping to avoid his notice, but it was too late, the mutant had already seen him. Toad changed direction slightly and hopped over to where Kappa was standing.

"Yo, who're you?" the mutant asked.

Kappa hesitated before answering, "My name is Kappa, I was just exploring the park a bit."

"So why're you wet? You fall in?" he asked, gesturing at the river.

Kappa winced internally, he'd forgotten that a human wouldn't just walk around soaking wet.

"Yes, I slipped, I'm just going to go change now." He said before quickly walking away.

The mutant watched him leave before shrugging and hopping away.

* * *

Logan stalked through the park grumpily. It had been three days since Charles had asked him to investigate the mysterious intruder that had been caught on the security tapes, and he was no closer to finding answers now than he had been then.  
The one thing he did know was that the intruder was not a mutant. Mutants had a specific underlying scent, and the intruder hadn't had it; however the scent wasn't like any he had smelled before.  
Logan had almost reached the parking lot where his bike was, when he saw a sopping wet figure walking to his right. The boy was moderately short, with black hair and what looked like earphones, but what caught his attention was the boy's scent. It had the same strange undertone as the intruder he was trying to find! Logan changed directions and subtly began to follow the strange boy.  
Near the east end of the park Logan saw two other people meet up with the boy. The adult was medium height, and had raggedy blond hair, sunglasses, and wore a long scarf wrapped around his neck. The older of the two boys had light brown hair and glasses, but otherwise didn't seem very remarkable, yet something about him made Logan nervous. He circled around trying to get downwind of the other two to see if they had the same strange scent.  
A shout came from behind the three strangers and Logan looked up startled, it was Ray and Jamie. They waved at the group of three in obvious recognition.

"Hey, it's Rikuo right?" Ray asked the older boy as they neared.

He nodded, "Yes that's me, but I'm afraid we don't know your names."

"I'm Ray, I think we're in the same history class, although we sit on opposite ends of the room. You also stepped in when Duncan was confronting us at lunch the first day of school. This is Jamie, he's in middle school, but he lives at Xavier's Institute as well."

"Ah, Good to meet you." The boy, Rikuo said with a smile, He gestured to his companions, "This is Kappa, another exchange student in my group; and this is Kubinashi, he's one of our chaperones."

Logan edged closer as they were talking, so these were the Japanese students the kids had been talking about, he mused to himself.

"Did you really scare Duncan off?" Jamie gushed out, "How'd you do that, he's really pig-headed!"

"I merely reasoned with him," The Japanese boy replied looking slightly bemused, "nothing more."

"But how..."

Logan looked up, distracted from the conversation by two familiar scents approaching, Xavier and Jean were walking toward group. He shook his head, this wasn't going to go anywhere anytime soon and he had other things to be doing. He turned and headed back toward his bike; he would tell Charles about the strange scent and ask if he had sensed anything off in their minds later that night.

* * *

Professor Charles Xavier was confused and fascinated, He and Jean had been rounding up the younger students who had been on an outing in the park, when they came upon a three individuals talking to Ray and Jamie. Jean had recognized two of them as the Japanese foreign exchange students, but the Professor was startled to realize he could not read their minds. There seemed to be some sort of energy around them that blocked his telepathy. Curious, he examined the strangers as they approached. The two telepaths heard the tail end of the oldest of the two exchange students' comment that yes, it was a very exciting opportunity to study in another country. The group then turned to face Jean and Charles as they approached.

Charles smiled at the two exchange students before turning to the adult who was with them. "Hello, my name is Charles Xavier, I'm the professor of the institute these two students are staying at; are you one of the chaperones for the Japanese exchange program?" He asked.

The blond man smiled, "Yes, my name is Kubinashi. My wife and I are chaperoning the exchange students while here in America."

The professor nodded, "I must say I've been hoping to run into you or one of your students. As they may have told you, the children that attend my institute are mutants; and due to that fact they often have a difficult time at school. From what they've told me, your students have been very friendly to them this week, which is a relief in the current anti-mutant atmosphere. I was wondering if you and your students would be interested in coming to dinner at the institute this Saturday evening?"

Kubinashi raised an eyebrow, "I will have to check and make sure Kejoro doesn't have anything else planned, is there a phone number I can reach you at to confirm?"

The Professor gave him the number, and the two groups parted ways. As they walked away Xavier tried once more to pierce the energy clouds obscuring their minds, but it still defied him. He hoped that he would soon be able to determine why he couldn't sense them, they had been courteous to the mutants so far, but he wanted to be sure they had no ulterior motive before he trusted them completely.

* * *

As night was falling the Nura Yokai gathered together for a night parade. The sun slowly sank below the horizon and energy swirled around their leader as he transformed. With a nod he led the six other demons into the night.

The town was quiet at night, very few cars on the road and most people were securely indoors. Rikuo cloaked the other Yokai with his fear as they crept through the underground passageways to check on the underground mutant group. all seemed quiet there as well, and the Hyakki Yakou returned to the surface. They were heading back toward their temporary home when a disturbance caught their attention.  
Two boys were standing outside an office building in the downtown area looking extremely suspicious. Rikuo cloaked the others in his fear again as they drew near to get a closer look. The door of the building rattled, then opened and a young girl stepped out. She had jet black hair cut short, and red and black clothes. Just behind her a small green-looking boy hopped onto he side of the doorframe and then to the street. A silver-blue blur streaked toward the group and resolved into a young boy in a blue and silver spandex outfit, with white windblown hair. He talked quietly to the girl and then at his nod the group piled into a green jeep and drove off.  
Once they were out of sight Rikuo let his fear drop.

Tsurara spoke quietly, "Were those mutants?"

"Most likely yes." Rikuo replied.

"I didn't recognize them from either the Institute or the underground mutants," Kubinashi observed, "This may be another faction."

Kappa spoke up, "I've seen the little green one before. He was in the park this afternoon."

"Any observations?" Rikuo asked.

"His abilities seem to be related to that of a frog's, but otherwise I don't know."

Rikuo nodded, "We'll have to look into this group and see what we can find out about them."

The rest of the patrol passed without incident and they soon returned to get some sleep before the sun rose.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Well this cow wasn't angry, just stubborn; so it was very slightly faster than the last update. If you notice any grammar/spelling mistakes please let me know.

And as always please review! Reviews make the cows happy, which makes writing easier, which means I update faster with better chapters.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

* * *

Tsurara walked briskly up the drive to the fancy black gates of Xavier's Institute for Gifted Youngsters. Her eyes scanned the wall next to the gate until a small intercom box caught her attention. She stepped forward and pushed the call button. After a few seconds the speaker buzzed and a bored voice came through.

"Who is it?"

"Ano... Tsurara, I'm here to work on a home ec. project with Kitty."

"Oh yeah, She mentioned a friend was coming over. Come on in then."

The gate swung open and the Yuki-Onna walked down the path to the door of the mansion. It was quiet, probably due to the fact that it was a Saturday morning. Tsurara reached the door and hesitated, unsure if she should knock or ring the doorbell. It was 11:00 a.m. and Rikuo said some humans liked to sleep very late on weekends, so some of the institute students could still be asleep. She decided to knock first, but before she could the door was flung open and a figure barreled past, barely missing colliding with her. Tsurara stepped back hurriedly as a second figure, apparently in pursuit of the first, also rushed past. After a moment, when she was certain no more runners would be passing, Tsurara stepped back to the still open doorway. Before she could decide whether she should go in or just wait, a tall, blue, fur-covered figure approached her. She blinked in shock, this must be another mutant, but not one of the teens they recognized. The blue mutant caught sight of her and stopped dead in his tracks.

Tsurara smiled and waved uneasily, "Hi, I'm here to do a project with Kitty?" she told him hesitantly.

He looked at her, surprised that she wasn't reacting more to his appearance, then shook himself mentally and gesture to his right. "Kitty's just down that hall, third door on your left."

Tsurara smiled and bowed slightly, "Thank you sir."

She walked down the hallway the blue mutant had indicated, looking around in interest at the pictures that lined the walls. Most were paintings of some sort, depicting people in open fields, lakes, the ocean, or forests. A short distance down the hall she reached the third doorway, it was open and seemed to lead into a kitchen/dining room area. Inside the room Kitty was sitting at the table on a laptop, typing something. Tsurara entered the room and approached the table where her friend sat.

"Kitty?"

The Mutant girl looked up in surprise, "Oh, hi Tsurara, are you ready to get started?" she asked.

The Japanese girl nodded with a smile, Kitty stood, shutting down the laptop and led the way to the kitchen area.

"This project is supposed to be like baking something, and I was thinking that making muffins would be a great starting point!" She said, "I don't know much about cooking, but it can't be too hard right? Just follow the recipe."

Tsurara smiled nervously and nodded, thinking to herself that there was much more to cooking than following a recipe, and that this was probably going to be a very interesting experience.

The two girls reached the counter where Kitty had set out several bowls, mixing spoons, measuring utensils, and two cook books.

"So what do you think, Muffins sound good?" She asked turning to Tsurara.

"Sure, let's give it a try!" Tsurara replied.

* * *

About an hour later the girls were walking down the hall of the institute looking for someone to try their creations. They had made two batches, one made by each of the girls working on their own. Tsurara had wanted to test their creations before allowing others to taste them, but Kitty had been too excited to listen and ran out of the kitchen carrying her pan.

Tsurara finally caught up to her outside near to field where the teenagers often played mutant-ball. She saw Bobby and a blue fuzzy-looking person she recognized from the news footage of the robot attack tossing a frisbee back and forth. Her eyes widened slightly as she watched Bobby send up a shaft of ice to intercept the disk, quickly retract it and sling the frisbee away far above the blue person's head. The blue one suddenly vanished in a puff of smoke and reappear in the frisbee's path just in time to catch it and then with a poof of smoke appear back on the ground.

The two boys turned as the girls approached.

"Hey Kitty, Vats up?"

Tsurara blinked in surprise as she recognized the voice of the German student Kurt. Apparently he could change his form to look more human. She filed this information away to share with Rikuo when she returned.

"We made muffins, you wanna try one?" Kitty said excitedly.

The boys shrugged then agreed. They took one from each batch.

Bobby tried Tsurara's first and nodded in approval, Kurt however tried Kitty's and his face froze in a smile.

"Well, how is it?" Kitty asked impatiently.

"It's impossible to describe." Kurt said. "Excuse me." He turned away and with a BAMPH, he vanished; he dropped the muffin which hit the ground with a disturbingly heavy thump.

Bobby looked nervously at the remaining muffin in his hand, then back at Kitty. "Ummm, I just remembered that Logan asked me to do an extra training session in the danger room and I'm going to be late. Gotta go!"

He took off at a run, dropping the muffins behind him.

Kitty looked at Tsurara, "do you think they were that bad?"

The yokai looked at the misshapen muffins sitting in her friends tray, "Maybe we should go over the notes you were making and try to find out what happened." she suggested.

The mutant girl nodded and they turned back to the kitchen.

* * *

Several hours later The girls had discovered why Kitty's muffins were nearly toxic and managed to fix the problem. Tsurara swung her bag over her shoulder as she prepared to leave.

"Hey don't forget you're coming over for dinner tonight." Kitty said as she walked her guest to the door.

"We haven't forgotten, I'll see you at six." Tsurara said with a smile. She turned and walked down the drive, her mind going over the information she'd gathered and forming it into a report to give to Rikuo when she got back.

* * *

**A/N So, after after writers block, a wiped hard drive, more writers block, files that refused to be opened on any device besides my now completely non-functional tablet, and a bunch of reformatting that needed to be done to make this story legible; I bring you the admittedly short next chapter, just in time for Christmas. The next chapter is already started and probably could have been included in this chapter, but I wanted to post it today.  
**

**IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT: I am going to be going on an 18 month mission for my church beginning March 7th or 8th, and will not have access to the internet, or any means to write these fanfictions AT ALL during that time. I will hopefully be able to get a few more chapters out before then, maybe even finish the story, but I make no promises. So if come March 7th/8th there has not been a further update to this story you may assume it is on hiatus until September 2017.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

* * *

Gozumaru glared at the buildings around them as he stalked toward the outer edge of town. Mezumaru hurried behind him trying to keep up with the fast pace set by the older yokai while still getting a good look at their surroundings. A sudden white/silver blur streaked past. Both yokai's heads snapped around trying to follow it. It vanished on the horizon and Gozumaru's eyes narrowed. He glanced around to ensure no humans were watching, then took off at a run, Mezumaru close behind him. They couldn't quite reach the speed of the silver and white blur, who Gozu suspected was the mutant they had seen a few nights back, but they were close. After a few minutes of running they came to the edge of town and quickly jumped into a tree to observe the group in front of them.

The teen mutants they had observed that night were sitting around as if they were waiting for something. The two yokai crept, hidden, through the treetops until they were almost above the mutants, and settled down to watch them.  
A few minutes passed and the two yokai perked up as they heard quiet footsteps approaching. A tall man in a trench coat approached the teens below them.

"Bonjour." He said quietly, startling the teens.

"What do you want?" The teen with longish brown hair demanded.

The man leaned against a tree and pulled out a deck of cards "Relax, just got a message from da boss is all," he stated.

The silver-haired boy snorted, "What does he want now?"

"Well he's concerned about some recent ahh... political developments," The man said, shuffling though the deck of cards. "and he wants to make sure that if he needs ta do anythin' about it, that you're ready to assist him."

Gozu narrowed his eyes, this could by promising.

The silver-haired one glared at the man for a moment then looked away, "Well that sorta depends on what he wants us to do doesn't it."

"Well no details yet, but if he calls, will you answer?"  
The man held up a card to the light and twisted it in his fingers, it lit up with a sparking gold aura. The two yokai tensed, this one was definitely a mutant.

The five mutant teens below mirrored their reactions, tensing and getting into fighting positions.  
The tension in the air thickened as the teens eyed the man with wary hostility and he them with vague amusement.

Finally the silver-haired one straightened. "You can tell Magneto that if and when he does this thing he can call us with details and we'll decide then."

The man smiled, "ahh well, I suppose that's the best he can expect for you."  
He stood, tucked the cards back into his coat and glided away, "Nice day kids."

Gozu and Mezu watched the mutant teens for another hour before they returned to the city too meet with the rest of the clan to report what they'd heard.

* * *

Rikuo glanced around at the assembled youkai. "We're going to meet with the 'X-men' mutants in a few hours, I want everyone as prepared as possible when we do. So does anyone have information to add to what we already know about them?"

Tsurara spoke up first, "When I was visiting the institute today I saw some of their powers. One of the boys, I think his name is Bobby, has the ability to create and manipulate ice. And the blue fuzzy mutant we saw in the video is Kurt. the one in your homeroom Rikuo-san, he can teleport places, but it seems he can also disguise his appearance among normal humans."

Rikuo nodded slowly, "any other news?"

Mezumaru glanced at Gozumaru, who didn't seem to be in any hurry to speak up on what they had seen. The younger Gyuuki clan member nudged him, earning a glare in response before the elder finally spoke up grudgingly.

"We followed the mutants we noticed on night patrol a few days ago and saw them meeting with an older mutant. It seems they're part of another group who may be planning something; although they didn't discuss any details."

"That makes three separate mutant groups. This may be more complicated than we originally thought." Kubinashi stated seriously.

"Yes, we'll have to be careful not to tip the power balance." Rikuo said. "We'll see what we can learn from the X-men tonight, then decide how to proceed."  
He stood, signaling the meetings end.

* * *

Ten minutes before six the Nura yokai pulled up to the institute gate. They filed out and approached the institute doors. the doors opened to reveal Professor Xavier and Scott.

"Welcome, please come in." Xavier said, all smiles and hospitality. "Dinner is almost finished, in the meantime would you like a tour of the institute?"

"That sounds very interesting, we'd love a tour!" Kejoro said, falling into her role of chaperon.

Xavier nodded and he and Scott led the way through the mansion. Xavier talked about the institutes purpose in training young mutants to control their powers. Rikuo only half-listened, his attention divided between what the professor was saying, and the suspicious looks he could feel Scott shooting at him.

* * *

As they made their way toward the lower levels they passed Logan on the hall on his way to the garage.  
He gave them a glance and continued walking, uninterested in making small-talk with the foreigners. As he passed them he noticed again the strange underlying scent they all had, then suddenly he caught it. The scent from the wall was there!

He subtly scanned the group trying to determine who it belonged too without being too obvious. There near the back, two boys were hanging back from the group, one with short brown hair, the other with long blueish hair. The brown haired boy was the one. All this happened in a few moments and Logan continued on his way to the garage, he would have to tell Xavier about this after they left.

* * *

After a fairly short (considering the size of the institute) tour, the two groups sat down to dinner.  
After everyone had gotten their food and was settling down to eat Professor Xavier turned the the two adult Japanese guests.

"So what exactly was it that made you decide to chaperon a bunch of teens in a foreign country?" He asked.

"Well we're old friends with Rikuo's parents," Kubinashi began, falling back on the cover story they had worked out before they came, "and when they mentioned that he and some friends wanted to do a foreign exchange program but needed chaperons we volunteered. We both work from home anyway and we wanted to travel so it seemed like the perfect opportunity."

"Ah, The knowledge of mutants didn't dissuade you?"

"Well we hadn't heard very much about the situation, but from what we've seen so far mutants haven't been much of a threat. so no it didn't affect out plans one way or another."

Rikuo diverted his attention from the adults conversation as the topic of mutants was dropped, and instead turned to the teen sitting across from him. The older boy, Scott, hadn't stopped glaring at him this whole time.

"Tsurara mentioned that you guys have a wide variety of powers? What kind of training exercises do you use to learn to control them? I would think that with such different and unexpected abilities it would be difficult to come up with an efficient way to practice them." Rikou probed cautiously.

It was the tall red-head, Jean, who answered. "We change it up depending on the powers, but we mostly focus on focus and control. Sort of mental exercises."

The rest of the evening was taken up with small talk, and shortly before 9:00 the Japanese guests took their leave.

* * *

Logan watched the car drive away with a scowl, he turned and headed for Xavier's office.

He tapped on the door twice before opening it, "Hey Chuck, I need to tell you somethin'."

The bald professor looked up, "Yes, what is it Logan?"

"Those foreign exchange students you had over today, what did you think of them?"

"They seemed nice enough, although the fact that I'm unable to sense them telepathically makes me wary."

Logan looked at him sharply, "You can't read their minds?"

"Hmm, no there seems to be some sort of energy blocking my telepathy from reaching them."

"Well I can tell you one thing; that intruder we caught on video right before they showed up at school, the one you asked my to look for. It's one of them."

The professor looked at him sharply, "you're sure?"

"Oh yeah, I couldn't mistake a scent that unique. The kid with the short brown hair, the one that was scowling at everyone, he matches the scent on the wall. And that weird underlying scent I mentioned to you, the one that's similar to the one all mutants have, but different. All of them have it. It's less strong on the Rikuo kid, like it's diluted, but it's still there."

The professor nodded slowly, "It seems we will have to look into these people a bit more. They don't act hateful toward mutants, but it appears they may have a hidden agenda. Thank you Logan."

The older mutant nodded and stalked out the door.

* * *

**Author's Note: Two Chapters in less than a month? The world is ending!**

**I just had my wisdom teeth taken out and have been using my recovery time to totally smash my writers block :D So lots of progress on my stories. YAY!**

**As always please review any and all comments, I love to hear them.**

* * *

**This message can be ignored if you read the one in the previous chapter:**

**IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT: I am going to be going on an 18 month mission for my church beginning March 8th, and will not have access to the internet, or any means with which to write these fanfictions AT ALL during that time. I will hopefully be able to get a few more chapters out before then, maybe even finish the story, but I make no promises. So if come March 8th there has not been a further update to this story you may assume it is on hiatus until September 2017.**

**Apologies I will try my hardest to finish it before then.**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

"Hey are you guys going to the dance this weekend?" Kitty babbled excitedly. "It would be a great way for you to like experience our culture and everything! It's a semi-formal, I don't know if you brought any outfits with you, but if not we could totally take you out shopping Tsurara, it would be so much fun!"

Tsurara looked up from her math homework. "I don't know if we brought anything appropriate for an American dance." Tsurara replied, thinking that the American idea of formal dress was probably very different than the Japanese. "A shopping trip might be a good idea."

"Great, How about this Friday after school, and then we can get ready and drive over there together! Unless of course you're going with someone..."

Tsurara glanced at Rikuo who was sitting a few rows down from them on the bleachers talking to Kappa, then quickly away.

"Well, I might be asked..." She said with a slight smile.

Kitty followed her gaze to where the third heir sat then back to the Yuki-onna. She giggled conspiratorially. "I'll make sure he knows the dance is coming up, you'll need time to coordinate outfits."

Tsurara watched the mutant girl hurry away with a slight smile. She was beginning to understand why Rikuo was so fond of humans.

* * *

Rikuo stood on the roof a building overlooking the downtown area of Bayville. It was nearing midnight and they had already patrolled most of the town.

"Look there." Rikuo followed the direction Kubinashi was indicating.  
To their right a small group was creeping out of a nearby warehouse. They watched as the group crept to a nearby man-hole and disappeared underground.

"That was the underground mutants." Kubinashi stated quietly.  
Rikuo nodded. "That's the third time they've snuck into that warehouse. Do we know who it belongs to?"

"No sir."

"See if you can find out."

* * *

Kurt spotted Rikuo shortly after the final bell had rung. The Japanese boy was alone.

Kurt ran up behind him, "Hey Rikuo."

Rikuo turned toward the voice and smiled as Kurt caught up to him. "What's up Kurt?" He asked.

"Have you seen the flyers for the dance this weekend?"

"Eh..?" Rikuo looked surprised, "Oh yeah I've seen them."

"Well Kitty told me to tell you that you should ask Tsurara, cause apparently she wants to go with you. Tsurara, not Kitty."

Rikuo blinked at him, "Do people usually go as couples to school activities in America?"

"Well not to all activities, but to dances they do if they're dating."

"Ahh, well thank you for telling me Kurt."

"Kurt! Hurry Up!" Amara called from the parking lot.

"Oh, Got to go, See you later?" Kurt said.

Rikuo nodded and watched as the mutant ran to meet his friends.

* * *

Rikuo walked through the park with Tsurara. They were waiting to meet Kubinashi and Kejoro to hear what they had discovered about the warehouse the underground mutants had been breaking into.

"So Tsurara, Kurt told me there's a dance next Saturday night, and apparently it's customary for students to attend as couples if they're dating. And Kitty seems to think that we should attend together."

Tsurara glanced at him, then quickly away. "Well it would be a good way to interact with the mutants in a social setting." She said. "They still don't trust us enough to tell us much about their powers, it may help them feel more at ease around us.

"Yes, perhaps they may let something slip." Rikuo smirked."So, to make it official: Tsurara, will you attend next Saturday's night dance with me?"

Tsurara smiled at him, "Of course Rikou-Sama."

A quiet whooshing sound alerted them to the arrival of Kejoro and Kubinashi, and they turned to face the older yokai.

"Well, what did you find?" Rikuo asked them.

"The warehouse is currently being used to produce a new energy drink that will be going in the market soon." Kubinashi began, "It's called Pow-R 8. We're not sure why, but the underground mutants have been breaking in and vandalizing the plant for several weeks now."

"Hmm, keep on eye on it. See if you can find a motivation." Rikuo said.

Kubinashi and Kejoro nodded.

* * *

The night of the dance had dawned clear and cold. The yokai approached the school, loud music could already be heard emanating from the gym. The group stopped just outside the doors.

"Gozu, Mezu." Rikuo spoke up quietly, "I want you two to integrate with the brotherhood teens. See if you can find out who exactly it is they're working for and what he might be planning. If you can't get that much detail try to get as much information on their powers as you can."

The two Gyuuki clan yokai nodded sharply, and they entered the building.

* * *

It was shortly after midnight that the yokai met together.

"Gozu, Mezu, report?"

Gozumaru smirked, "The mutants don't know what to think of us. We weren't intimidated by them and we were mostly unimpressed by their powers, but we kept talking to them. I'm confidant they're curious enough that they won't deliberately avoid us if we start interacting with them more at school."

"Good, Anyone else find anything interesting?"

Kappa spoke up, "The girl Amara has powers related to fire or volcanoes. Some of the normal humans were asking her about it. I didn't get much detail though."

"That seems to be the main problem." Kejoro interjected. "Lack of detail, or any pattern. Their mutant abilities are almost completely random. With yokai you can usually guess at the power type according to what clan or what kind of yokai they are. With the mutants there's no rhyme or reason to it."

"Perhaps that is why the humans themselves are so apprehensive about mutants," Kubinashi mused. "They don't know what to expect."

Rikuo nodded thoughtfully, "We may need to try a more direct approach. Try asking questions about their abilities, get as much information as you can without being obvious. Next Friday we'll call the main house and report what we've found.

* * *

...

* * *

Tsurara glanced sideways at Kitty, The younger girl had been unusually quiet for the past few days and despite her determination that it was none of her business the Yuki-onna was concerned. The bell rang to indicate the end of class and Tsurara reached out to grab Kitty's should before she could hurry away.

Kitty what's wrong?" she asked in a hushed voice.

"What do you mean?" She refused to meet Tsurara's gaze which only increased her determination to find out what was happening.

"You've been acting weird for several days now. Like somethings bothering you. What is it?"

Kitty hesitated before leaning in and saying in a low voice, "Evan's missing."

"Missing? What happened."

"I don't know if you heard about the skate-boarding competition put on by Pow-R 8 last week?"

Tsurara shook her head, although the name rang a bell. That was the name of the product being made in the warehouse the underground mutants kept sneaking into. They hadn't been able to find any more information as to why, and with a slight sinking feeling she began to wonder if the two events were related.

"Well Evan took part in it," Kitty was saying, "he's like really good at skate-boarding, only one of the other kids was making like an issue over the fact that he's a mutant even though his powers have like nothing to do with his skating. So he was leaving and he drank some of the energy drink they were promoting and it made his powers go crazy! And then some other mutants, they're a group called the Morlocks I think, disappeared with him and now he's staying with them cause of the way his mutation is advancing and he said he needs space or something."

"Wait did the energy drink make his powers go out of control?" This could be informative on how mutant powers developed.

"Yeah there's some sort of toxic eliminator in it that reacts badly with the x-gene. Like a poison or something.  
Look I gotta go, I have a lot of homework. See you."

Tsurara watched as the other girl hurried away, then went to find Rikuo.

* * *

That night the Yokai set out with a specific purpose in mind. To see if the mutant Evan, or Spyke, had truly joined the underground mutants known as the Morlocks. Rikuo instructed the others to keep watch above before cloaking himself and Kappa in his fear, hiding them from all human senses.

Kappa led the way, having become familiar with all waterways in the city in the weeks they had been there. Soon they came upon what looked like a refuge camp. The two of them crept through the camp, observing the many different types of mutations that these people had.

Kappa stopped Rikuo with a hand on his arm and gestured to a secluded alcove where Spyke stood with his back partially toward them, facing a woman slightly taller than him, with an eye-patch over her left eye. They seemed to be arguing about something.

The two Yokai approached them.

"..Can't keep acting like this, it's only causing things to escalate above-ground." The woman was saying.

"They attacked us, I was just defending us! Besides I doubt I could make them hate us any more than they already do."

Rikuo tensed, glancing around as he felt someone's eyes on them. His fear still cloaked them so it shouldn't be possible, but given how little they knew about mutants' abilities he wasn't willing to write off the possibility that one of them might have some way to see through it.

His gaze settled on a short mutant whose nose almost resembled a beak. He was squinting in their direction as if trying to see through a fog.  
The mutant stepped toward them hesitantly. Rikuo tapped Kappa on the shoulder gesturing sharply toward the nearest tunnel and they darted into it, leaving the Mutants behind them.

* * *

Lucid blinked as the blurry_ something_ that had been floating in the middle of the camp suddenly dashed to one of the nearby tunnels and vanished. He shook his head, wondering if he had been imagining it. He walked to where Callisto and Spyke were arguing. It could be nothing, but it could be something very important.

* * *

**Author's Note: A little bit of Rikuo/Tsurara here. In my head-canon they've been dating for a few years now.**

**I didn't write any scenes showing the actual dance because I could get it to work right. (that's part of the reason this chapter took so long). So If someone wants to write what they think might of happened, consider yourself challenged. Write a one-shot scene about how the X-men and Nura clan interact at a school dance and post it! **

**As always please review.**

* * *

**This may be the last chapter I post before I leave, which means the last chapter before September 2017. I'll try to get one or two more done, but I make no promises.  
**

**On that note, If someone wanted to write a story with a similar premise/plotline, PLEASE DO SO! The Nura fandom needs more love on this site.**


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